Fact Sheet 6b"Other" Consumer Reports: What You Should Know about "Specialty" Reports

Despite its name, the Fair Credit Reporting Act
covers a lot more than simply credit reports. Credit reports are just
one of a broader category of consumer reports covered by the FCRA. Consumer reports can also include reports about
you made to employers, insurance companies, banks, and landlords. In
recent years, many new companies have sprouted, compiling reports
specifically targeted at employers, insurers, and landlords. The
companies that compile reports for targeted users are “consumer
reporting agencies” under the FCRA, just like the three national credit
bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Companies that compile reports on consumers for
other than credit have been designated by Congress as “nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agencies.” These agencies compile reports
about much more than just your credit history. Here are a few examples
of the types of reports that they compile:

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) is please to write in support of the Department’s continuing efforts to protect California consumers from adverse insurance decisions based on error ridden claims history reports. A steady stream of consumer complaints filed with the Department as well as the PRC’s experience with consumer concerns make further action by the Department both justified and necessary.

A crisis exists in California's homeowner's insurance market. In May of this year, the Department noted a four-fold increase in the number of consumer complaints about homeowner's insurance, topping the Department's complaint hotline.2 Non-renewal of coverage was a leading cause of consumer complaints, nearly always based on information included in a CLUE or A-Plus report. Adverse insurer decisions based upon inaccurate information included in reports was also a leading cause of consumer complaints.

One of the most troubling practices noted was that of a consumer's insurance being cancelled simply because the individual made an inquiry to the insurer without ever having filed a claim for loss.

The title of this talk is "Medical Records Privacy: Fears and Expectations of Patients". So you can get an understanding of my point of view, I want to start out by talking about our project, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, and then make several points about the topic.